Resource Library

The Resource Library serves as a broad resource hub, including over 1000 documents, training materials, wikis, and curated reports to increase readers' awareness, understanding, and proficiency of several topics in market systems development. Users have access to proposals, evaluation materials, and USAID policy updates, as well as training modules and wikis to boost skills and knowledge.

These resources are bolstered by the inclusion of curated USAID reports published on the USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) which serves as a repository of reports from completed or ongoing USAID development projects around the globe. The full USAID Development Clearinghouse website can be accessed here.

March 25, 2024

These case studies profile select small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have implemented a women-inclusive intervention and can demonstrate financial returns for that investment. The case studies help address a gap in evidence from firms in lower- and middle-income countries on the return on investment (ROI) from women’s inclusion and unpack themes from USAID’s Women Inclusive Return on Investment (WI-ROI) Framework.

The case study series features:

By: Erin MarkelSabine GarbarinoYaquta Fatehi

A two by two grid with icons of a woman, a handshake, a turning gear, and two people with money.

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ASPIRES Family Care: Evidence and Guidance for Economic Strengthening to Help Families Stay Together

ASPIRES’ Family Care project is tackling the topics of how ES interventions can help separated children—such as children in residential care facilities, children living on the street, or children migrating for work—return to and remain in their families.

CGAP Smallholder Families Data Hub

Check out this resource from The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), a global partnership of organizations seeking to advance financial inclusion. These interactive dashboards provide easy access to data drawn from six countries.

A girls’ team competes in a theater contest during the talent show portion of this year's Kolda Regional Fair

Savings Groups "Plus" for Orphans and Vulnerable Children

This paper takes the position that in PEPFAR OVC programs, SGs should be part of an integrated program (SG+) that uses savings groups as a platform to deliver development interventions beyond finance or business support.

Two young female students in Zambia using calculators in a classroom.

Technical Report: Age, Gender, and Financial Inclusion in Zambia

This report provides insights into age-based differences in financial inclusion in Zambia. The results presented in this report are based on FinScope 2009 and 2015 data as well as the cross-sectional module of the 2015 Zambia Financial Diaries study.

Members of the girls club at Tutis Primary School in Ethiopia. Photo: UNICEF Ethiopia

Aspirations Matter: What Young People in Ghana Think About Work

This research, published by the Youth Forward Learning Partnership, explores the aspirations of young people in rural and urban Ghana.

Group of Guatemalan women being taught how to create floral designs. Photo: Michelle Los Banos-Jardina, USUN Rome.

A Practical Guide to Measuring Women's and Girls' Empowerment in Impact Evaluations

This guide gathers insights from the experiences of J-PAL affiliated researchers around the world and offers practical tips for how to measure women's and girls’ empowerment in impact evaluations.

Report: Examining Customer Journeys at Financial Institutions in Cambodia

This study was conducted to encourage a shift in focus from examining access to finance to understanding actual usage of financial products.

Municipal sanitation workers carry trash aboard boat. Photo: Scott Wallace / World Bank

Piecing Together the Poverty Puzzle

This post highlights a 2018 report from The World Bank and explores two overarching goals: ending poverty by 2030, and to promote prosperity by boosting economies.

Photo: Women sell home-grown vegetables and cassava flour at the market in the Gado refugee camp. Photo Credit: UN Women/Ryan Brown

Women's Empowerment in Action: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial in Africa

This paper evaluates the impact of a policy intervention aiming to empower adolescent women in Uganda. The findings are significant for designing future programs for female youth and women's economic empowerment.

Photo: Group of Kenyan youth in Mariaini Village of Kiambu County engaging in farming activities.

Strengthening Kenya's TVET Capacity Through Learning and Adaptation

This case explores the CLA approach of the Kenya Youth Employment and Skills Program (K-YES), a five-year program funded by USAID that enhances employment opportunities for unemployed and underemployed Kenyan youth (aged 18-35) who have not completed secondary education.

Photo: ILO Lab Policy Brief Title Image and construction helmets. Overlay Text: A Systemic Approach to Creating More and Better Jobs and resource description.

New Insights on the Systemic Approach to Creating More and Better Jobs

A third of the global labour force is not earning enough to lift themselves and their families above the poverty line. Although most development and government programmes focus on creating more jobs, it's clear that we need to focus on their quality as well.

An Introduction to Programming for Orphans and Vulnerable Children Savings Groups

This publication is a general overview of youth savings groups, with information, best practices and evidence on the use of community-based savings groups with and for orphans and vulnerable children and youth, including those affected by HIV/AIDS.

Savings Groups for Orphans and Vulnerable Children and Youth

This post features a brief that provides guidance to practitioners working with orphans and vulnerable children. It illustrates the benefits of SGs for vulnerable children and youth and illuminates issues to keep in mind when piloting SGs with this target population.

Savings Groups for Adolescents and Youth Affected by HIV: A Technical Guide

This guide’s focus is on HIV-affected young people aged 14–24 years who participate in youth-only adolescent and youth savings groups (AYSG).  While..

Economic Strengthening to Keep and Reintegrate Children into Families (ESFAM) - Children and Youth Savings Groups - A Learning Brief

This Learning Brief draws on project documents, focus group discussions and individual interviews to document ChildFund International’s experience with Children and Youth Savings Groups for highly vulnerable children in Uganda’s Kamuli, Luwero and Gulu Districts.

Financial Education for HIV-vulnerable Youth, Orphans and Vulnerable Children: A Systematic Review of Outcome Evidence

This systematic review assessed outcome evidence of financial education and plural interventions aimed at reducing HIV vulnerability for youth, orphans and vulnerable children in low and middle-income countries.

Catalyzing Business Skills: For Youth, Trainers Guide, Version 2, Uganda ESFAM Project

The curriculum aims to build the financial literacy and business knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for youth members of ESFAM savings groups to successfully generate income.

Annotated Bibliography on Research Methods

This document offers an annotated bibliography of key resources on applied quantitative and qualitative research methods and ethics to give guidance for development practitioners and researchers working in resource-poor settings and with orphans and vulnerable children (OVC).

Photo: Youth girl in chicken pen. Photo by Ana Christina Chaclán García

Push-Pull Model for Young Women and Men in Food Systems

This post introduces a publication from Wageningen University and Research on youth and agribusiness.

HES Research Dialogues: Evidence Brief 3 - Understanding the Effects of Economic Strengthening On Adolescent Girls in Sub-Saharan Africa

This brief reviews the evidence from four recent publications to highlight emerging scholarship on vulnerable adolescent girls in sub-Saharan Africa.

This photo shows a young man who is concerned about the growth of plants in the garden, whose fruits are then used for food consumption of many students with lack of resources. Photographer: Maria Luisa Ramirez Cruz.

Resource: Life skills, Employability and Training for Disadvantaged Youth: Evidence from a randomized evaluation design

This post introduces a resource highlighting youth training programs implemented in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Photo: Annette, woman in rural Uganda standing in tobacco field. Olivia Graziano, USAID.

Introducing the USAID's Office of Education Young Women Transform Prize

Listen to Young Women Transform, a new podcast on Youth-led development from USAID's Office of Education exploring lessons about youth-led development.

Zimbabwe Employment Market Opportunity Analysis

The ASPIRES Zimbabwe DREAMS Job Demand Market Analysis lays out a strategy to support youth employment and microenterprise development programs that place adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in jobs or self-employment, building on a comprehensive job demand market analysis tailored to the situation of AGYW in Zimbabwe.

Family Resilience Project - End of Project Report

This post highlights the end of project report for the Family Resilience (FARE) project, implemented in Uganda from November 2019 to June 2018 by AVSI and partners, with funding and technical support provided by FHI 360 through the USAID-funded ASPIRES project.

Follow-on Coaching to Households, Para-Social Worker's Guide, ESFAM Program

This is the Follow-On Coaching Guide developed for ParaSocial Workers (PSWs) working under the Economic Strengthening to Keep and Reintegrate Children into Families (ESFAM) project.

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